Arriving at the pier last night with out-of-town company, I was surprised to find unequivocal sign right away that at least one otter had visited the dock that very day. There were two very fresh fish scraps – and only two – on top of one of the pontoon floats under the dock. Only an otter could have put them there, and not just any otter, but one that was familiar with the pier structure. I was very excited! One of the natives had obviously returned!

So for the first time this summer, I went into active otter-spotting mode. Scanning the headland, I noticed a new path in the brush at the main den site that was just as wide as an otter's body, and saw signs that a second den entrance had been used recently, too. Then, about twenty minutes later, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and to my amazed delight, I saw not one but five otters walking down the crag of the main den towards the water: three adult-sized individuals, and two pups-of-the-year. (It was the largest assemblage of otters I've seen here in six years.)

It was after sunset already, so I had to rely on behaviors alone to figure out who I was looking at. To make a long story short, after witnessing all the various interactions, I believe the group was comprised of Mother, Pup (now a yearling, and evidently a female – yay!), a new male and female pup, and Slick! (I'm now convinced more than ever that he is the father of all of the youngsters.) I don't know where they've been for the last 8-1/2 months, but obviously, they're all alive and well and doing fine!

With such a long absence, I know I still don't have a study anymore, but at least it has a happier ending now than it did before, and my otter-starved soul is whole once again. :-)

 

It turned out that my 3-1/2 min. video clip of Mother and Pup that I took in June is the only photographic record I have of them thus far. So over the weekend I did some screengrabs of the best individual frames from the whole video. And here they are...


















That last one is the only decent frame that shows both of their faces together. Pup is just barely visible to the left of Mother...

 

Took a chance going to the pier in the rain yesterday and was rewarded with a sighting of Mother and Pup! Hadn't seen them since October 5, so I was very pleased. Fifteen minutes earlier or later and I would have missed them, so it really was perfect timing.

Saw Slick a week ago, too, all on his own. He is a very large otterguy now! At 5 years of age, he's in the absolute prime of life, and he totally looks it. His mom and grandma would be truly proud. I know I am!

 

Mother and the pup have returned! I saw them both briefly just after sunset yesterday. The pup is huge; quite possibly the largest of its age I've ever seen. I got a good look at it in profile last night, too, and I saw a little droop where the penis tip should be, so I'm now about 90% sure the pup is a male. I'll still have to wait and see him actually pee before I can be sure, though. Hopefully they will stay here for a while this time around.

 

Got to watch Slick for a nice long time yesterday evening. Then, just as he was returning home, I saw Mother and her pup for the first time in 6 weeks! I knew if the pup lived that I'd see her again, and for once, I was right. And more good news – I think the pup might be a female!

Now that Slick's fur is grizzling with age, I was struck by how much he resembles his grandmother. The way he looks, the way he moves, it was almost like I was watching Little Mama again. Unfortunately, he's also acting a bit recklessly like his grandma used to, too, loitering around fishermen for handouts. I don't like to see that sort of thing, but there's nothing I can really do about it.

Mother and pup were too far away to take a picture, but here's one of Slick last night peering out from his hidey-hole.

 

My 25th summer of otter watching officially began yesterday, and it was a very happy beginning, indeed. First, I confirmed that Slick really is back home! He's 5 now, and seeing him up close for the first time in months, I noted that his fur's starting to get a little grizzled-looking around his head and neck, which befits his entry into otter middle age. I still find myself calling him "The Kid" when I dictate my notes, though. Old habits die hard!

I was also happy that I got to spend over an hour watching the new mom and baby. I have to tell you – it is SO GREAT to see a mother here who is truly competent. I haven't seen the likes of this female in the last 15 summers. In terms of her maternal behavior, the new mom is truly a reincarnation of Old Mama. She's focused like a laser beam on her motherly duties. And I'm still just totally blown away by how much she looks (and acts) like Scarnose. Scar left no descendants, though, so the new mother can't be directly related, but I've long suspected that most if not all of the individuals presently living along the coast north of Little River ultimately derive from the same bloodline dating back to the 1950s, when otters recolonized the area. I really do wish I could find out exactly where this mom came from and how she was related to Old Mama's matrilineage, but I know that's impossible to determine with certitude. Whatever, I'm just so glad she's here!

I still haven't thunk up a name for her, though. No clue yet what sex the baby is, either. I'm hoping for a female, of course. And for siblings! It's still not too late for others to appear...

 

In my last posting, Oliver followed up with a comment speculating that "Probably, I hope, they have more female cousins up and down the coast, carrying on the same mitochondria as Old Mama." There's actually a fair possibility that's true. There was one–and only one–female from my study population over the last 20 years who I knew had dispersed and survived to adulthood.

Meet "One-Eye":




One-Eye was one of three females born to Old Mama in 1990, and the only survivor of that litter. When she became a yearling, her elder sister, Mama Junior, expelled her from the family territory. I don't know exactly where One-Eye went, but every once in a while in 1991 and 1992, the Trinidad family would go away for a few days, and while they were gone, One-Eye would suddenly show up here again. I speculated that the family must have travelled to wherever it was One-Eye was living in exile, so she had to come back here to escape from Junior.

The screenshot above was taken the very last time I saw One-Eye. She was then an adult of breeding age. Females finally understand the concept of territory at age 2, so it's no wonder I never saw One-Eye again. From then on, she would stand her ground against any female interloper. Then, starting in the mid-90s, some new males joined the Trinidad population, and interestingly, at least some of them had "the family resemblance," and I thought maybe, just maybe, they were either sons or grandsons of One-Eye.

Unfortunately, I don't have any evidence of there being another family group now on this stretch of coast. The last time a new male joined the local clan was 2 years ago, and the last stranger I noted in the area was a 1- to 2-year-old female I found dead on a nearby beach, also 2 years ago. She had the family resemblance, too. I felt very badly about that dead young female. By then, my own Little Mama had ceased her reproductive cycle, and Scoots: well, I never could count on her keeping her pups. Alive, that strange female at least presented some possibility that somewhere along the coast there might be another family group cranking out otter babies. But there's no evidence that is the case now. The closest known otter family now is at Patrick's Point, about 20 linear shoreline kilometers north of Trinidad - too far distant to be a source of new females for this stretch of coast in the near future.

(PS: One-Eye did, in fact, have two eyes. It's just that when she was a youngster, she injured the cornea of her left eye which turned a milky white for several weeks. That became her most identifiable feature, and instead of calling her "The pup with one white eye," I just called her "One-Eye" for short.)

 

Scoots has been looking awfully ragged since she returned. She's abnormally thin, and her fur is in terrible shape. Now I know why. The old girl has new babies! This evening, I saw her enter a den that is used exclusively as a nursery for newborns. This is great news! Now if Scoots will only decide to keep them this year. I can only hope. Literally. All I can do is hope...